Prisoner of Red Eyes
by 4fireking
Summary: Naruto hears some words from a giant fox who acts more like a conniving cat (co-author Wonderland-Chic).


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **I wrote this story with Wonderland-Chic. I hope you like this oneshot. I don't really have anything more to say.**

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Naruto was eight years old when something strange happened to him.

He was walking home from the academy, taking the back way home because it was starting to get dark outside.

Trouble steered Naruto in the face in the place he was going. He knew he shouldn't venture too far from the streets, but he also knew a lot of the people in the village didn't like him, and Naruto just didn't feel like dealing with their stares and whispers today.

Girls were mean to him because they hated him and boys mocked him for being a weakling. Naruto shook his head, refusing to let his thoughts travel down that route. He was who he was and he wouldn't stop trying to find pride in his scrawny body.

So, determined, the young Uzumaki kept walking, but stopped suddenly when he heard a strange noise coming from the alleyway he was about to pass.

"Hello?" He called, with no one answering him.

Curiosity winning out, Naruto started to make his way into the dark alley, mindful of the trash that littered the ground. This was not a good way to help the Hidden Leaf Village. But, what was he to do? Naruto was just a kid, it wasn't his problem... well not yet, that would change when he became Hokage.

He would show everyone even someone like him could become the hope the village needed.

A sudden noise to his left ripped the eight-year-old out of his musings, nearly making his heart jump up his throat.

"Um... is anyone there?" He whispered.

He heard a chuckle in the alleyway. "Well, look what I found," The voice said, slightly slurred, and Naruto knew by experience that wasn't a good thing.

"If it isn't the demon brat!"

Naruto didn't like being called by that. He hated that the villagers refused to use his name, and instead called him by those cruel titles. What had he ever done to deserve them?

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! Not Demon Brat!"

"I don't care what you want filth." The man smirked, pulling something long and slender out from behind him, Naruto thought it looked like a pipe, but before he could examine it further, the man brought it down over his head.

Stars danced across Naruto's vision, and the pain in his head increased with every strike.

Whoever was doing this knew how to make someone feel pain.

Despite trying to fight, the young Uzumaki eventually succumbed to the beating he was getting, and darkness dragged him under. When he woke up he was no longer in the dirty alleyway getting beaten, but in a damp cavern of some kind.

"Maybe he threw me in the sewer?" It would appear that was what he did and Naruto hated it. It wouldn't be the first time the villagers had done that after knocking him unconscious. That was unforgiving behavior. They seemed to have a free pass on when doing anything to Naruto.

Shaking his head, the young boy looked around himself, not seeing an exit he began to walk forward, ignoring the shin deep water around him. That was water he shouldn't try to mess with. Even if it was just sewer water it freaked him out.

A sigh left Naruto's mouth when, despite his continued walking, he didn't find an exit anywhere.

He was trapped like being stuck in a locked closet. "Where is the exit, dattebayo?" Naruto muttered, he was getting irritated because he could usually find his way out pretty fast. Suddenly, he felt something like a breeze coming from what looked like an open corridor.

When there was a breeze it usually meant there was an outside. Naruto grinned, running up to the corridor. He passed the archway, stopping suddenly when he didn't see blue skies, but instead what looked like a large metal cage.

Naruto wondered what it truly was he was staring at.

"So the jailer comes to see his prisoner at last." A deep voice rumbled from the darkness. Naruto wondered who jailer was that voice was talking about.

"Wha... what do you mean, jailer?" He asked slowly, before his voice grew bolder. "Who are you anyway? It's too dark to see, dattebayo!"

The man talking to Naruto finally stepped out of the light. He was everything Naruto had to fear. It wasn't a man, but a big orange fox with sharp teeth and nine tails.

"Who are you?!" Naruto said, his voice trembling slightly. Large red eyes blinked at him, in amusement or disdain he couldn't tell.

"I would be the one you wretched humans call Kyuubi."

"That's not possible!" The Uzumaki yelled. "The Yondaime killed the Kyuubi eight years ago-" He was cut off by a vicious laughing.

"You think a mere mortal can kill ME?" The fox stood to his full height, glaring down at the boy. He was far too big to be anything living on this earth but it seemed this beast was alive. Naruto trembled under the weight of the fox's stare.

"I-I'm not scared of you!" He shouted, even though it was clear the boy was terrified. The fox admired how fierce the boy could shout even in the face of a Titan like him. He chuckled darkly. "Speaking bravely will not save you, puny human."

"I'm warning you," Naruto squeaked. "Every time I use my fists everyone runs away."

"Is that so?" Naruto watched as the giant fox began to stalk back and forth. The eight-year-old hoped his false bravado worked. "I know you're lying, little human, I have watched as they beat you down again, and again."

"That's not-I mean, it's"

"They think you are less than them... they thing you are worthless."

Naruto knew he heard spiteful words from the villagers but he refused to believe that's all they saw in him. He had to believe that they could change, because if he didn't… then how could he ever survive this life?

The truth is without the support or encouragement of anyone there was no way he could.

Suddenly an idea came to Naruto. This being, this fox, was powerful. He was so powerful in fact, that it was said the Kyuubi could level mountains with a single swipe of a tail… if he was that powerful, and he was inside the eight-year-old then wasn't it possible for Naruto to be that powerful too?

A dark smirk fell over the Kyuubi's mouth; he could sense the malice growing in his young jailor at a quick rate. This could be just the switch he needed.

"Kyuubi." Naruto said, with all the seriousness a child could muster. "I have a proposition for you."


End file.
